The Syrian Democratic Forces, affiliated with Kurdish fighters in the region, announced that they saved seven Christian families, among them two Armenian families, from the Islamic State in the besieged northeastern province in Syria, reported the ARA news agency.
“Our forces have saved two Armenian families today,” said Mustafa Bali, Director of the Information Office of the SDF about the operation that saved the families from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh.
Saws Karabidian, a Christian woman who was among those rescued by the SDF, said: “They [ISIS] forced us to wear the headscarf and allowed us to reveal our faces to distinguish us from Muslims. We had to hide our faces to avoid insults,” reported the news agency.
“We were forced to pay tribute by hand and we were humiliated and insulted, what a homeland that makes you pay an additional tax because you are different,” Karadij Karadjian, another Christian civilian who was rescued on Tuesday, told SDF fighters. “Today is a new birth for us.”
A small number of Christians lives in Raqqa city, however the majority of them fled when ISIS took over the city and moved to the Kurdish-held Hasakah province.